Bottle cap



y 1,637,470 Am- 1927- CHAPLIN BOTTLE CAP Filed July 24, 1924 glvvuanioz 25 or lower surface.

Patented Aug. 2,1927. V

UNITED sr n H OFFICE.

WALTEIQ I;- GHAPLIN, O33 SYRAGU$E, NEW YORK, AS$IGNOR TO THE SMITH-LEE COM- NERSHII? GOMPOSEID OE WILBERT Il- SMITH,

PAINY, OF ONEIIDA, NEW YORK, A PART HURLBUT W. SMITH, AND ESTATE OF E. C. SMITH.

I BOTTLE CAB.

Application filed July 24, 1924. Serial No. 728,030.

This invention relatesto closures for bottles and jars and particularly for milk bottles. Closures for this purpose have usually been made of paper board in the form of disks adapted to fit closely in a groove at the top or in the neck of the bottle.- The present invention is an improvementupon that type of bottle cap or closure which is provided with a tab cut from the body of the material, the cut extending part way but not altogether through the material. The mainobjectof the invention is to pro- I vide a bottle cap or closure of this character having a section which may be raised to .per- -mit of partially emptying the bottle or of inserting a straw without main portion of the cap from its seat in the bottle neck.

In patented structures disk-like bottle caps have been provided with creases of various characters to permit one portion to hinge upon the other, the creases usually extending from edge to edge of the cap, the creases being formed either in the upper In connection with a cap of the character herein described having an integral tab cut from the body of the paper board it is not practicable to produce a hinged portion by means of a continuous 3 crease or groove for the reason that the crease must be near enough to the margin, or so far from the center that it would intersect the tab. If the crease were on the underside it would Weaken the thin portion of the body of the cap below thetab and if on the upper side it would weaken the tab and destroy its efiiciency. I

In carrying out the present invention the disk is creased or grooved, preferably on its under surface, on lines extending from the tab or from near the tab to the margin of the disk, as will be explained more in detail in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a cap embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 'of Figure 1; and I Fi 4 is a section of the mouth of a bottle provided with one of the hinged caps, the hinged portion being shown in the open I condition.

' Referring to the drawing 10 indicates the removing the cap, which is made or stamped from thin pasteboard or cardboard and usually parafiined to make it waterproof. A tab 11 is formed by cutting part way through the paper disk on a somewhat semi-circular line and raising the cut portion in the course of manufacture, the tab being then pressed back into position ready to be raised again when it is desired to Withdraw the cap from a bottle or to raise the hinged portion of the cap. This method of forming a tab is illustrated in Patent No. 934,832 to Charles G. Parker. The hinged portion of the tab is preferably strengthened by means of a wire loop or staple 12, as described in Patent No. 1,402A54i to W. L. Smith. I

In order to permit of raising a segmen of the cap without disturbing the main portion in its seat in cap weakened from its margin inward along two lines 13-13 preferably by ress the neck of a bottle, the

ing a groove into the body of the cap as indicated at 14, Figure 3. The grooves are preferably formed on the under side of the cap so as not to interfere with the printed matter on the upper surface. Furthermore a groove on the under surface forms a better hinge to permit the smaller segment 10 of the cap being raised without raising the body of the cap from its seat in the neck of the bottle; The grooves or lines of weakness 13 are, asyshown, in alignment and they extend preferably from the margin of the cap to, or close to, the tab 11. If continued entirely across the ca on the under side the grooves would ren er the thin portion of the cap under tab weak and might cause it to break or leak. If continued across the upper portion of the cap the tab might be severed or might break away when it is pulled. For these reasons the two grooves described are provided and the are preferably formed on the underside o the cap and they are preferably so close to the margin that if connected of the tab. It will be noted that the thin portion of the cap under the tab and the two' bottle cap consisting in a paper board disk having on its upper surface a they would intersect the outline tab which is formed of an integral portion of the disk, that part of the disk beneath the tab being thinner than the remainder of the disk, the tab being separated from the disk excepting at its outer edge and said cap being creased between the tab and its margin on alined lines Substantially parallel to the outer connected edge of the tab, said thin portion of the tab and said creases 00- operating to form a hinge line across the 10 cap, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

WALTER L. CHAPLIN. 

